Vista College suspends in-person enrollment, furloughs employees across Texas

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - Vista College issued a company-wide suspension of in-person enrollment and furloughed employees all across its seven campuses.

CEO and Founder Jim Tolbert says on August 4, they decided it was best to make these changes after seeing significant impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tolbert says students who are already enrolled in this current term will be able to finish out their education.

“We were seeing significant decreases in our school population, and so for the best interest of the students, we decided to suspend enrollment,” said Tolbert. “The reason we did that is to make sure we had all the financial resources at our disposal to make sure the students currently enrolled in school get exactly what they paid for.”

Tolbert says they are still accepting online enrollment at this time.

When asked about the long term plan for these locations, Tolbert says they do not know what the future holds for the college.

“If we have completed our obligation to our students, we won’t have further need for the facility,” said Tolbert.

Some employees say they felt blindsided when they were told they no longer had a job.

College Station resident Zana Jacobs used to work in admissions at the College Station location. She says they called a meeting at the beginning of the term to let them know.

“I found out rather quickly so, of course at first I am thinking about how I am not going to have a job,” said Jacobs. “I definitely had to talk my anxiety down like, okay, we are going to figure it out. But at first definitely scared.”

Some students say they were unaware of these changes, but were concerned for future students who may have seen Vista College as an option.

“There are not many colleges out here for us, so I hope that things get figured out. That way the community has more options for us and that way we can further our future,” said student Alyssa Garcia.

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